Today and next weekend, around 200 walkers walk a day for the women’s march. It is the fifth edition of the walking and commemoration tour in memory of 116 resistance fighters who were imprisoned in Camp Westerbork in 1945.
The women were stuck because of their resistance work or that of family. “They were sent away just before the liberation. They had to leave the camp because the Germans were afraid that too much evidence would be left behind,” says Rixt van Gosliga, organizer of the women’s march.
“With all German soldiers around them, they walked north in a march. The goal was actually unknown,” says Van Gosliga. “They ran for hours in a row and during the day they hid in farms.”
For three days the women thought they were walking their death, but they were suddenly released, just past Grijpskerk. “The most special thing is that all women survived. They had been imprisoned and weakened for some time. But they still made it.”
In the meantime, nobody lives out of the 116 resistance fighters anymore. “It’s eighty years ago,” Van Gogliga emphasizes. “If you were 20 at the time, you would have been 100 years old now. It is not very many people to get that old.”
According to Van Gosliga, the women are commemorated in different ways. “But the most important thing is the walking tour. We walk on exactly the same days as in 1945, so 11, 12 and 13 April. On the way there is music and there are storytellers. And five images are revealed.”
Gosliga praises the courage and resilience of the 116 women. “They ventured their lives for our freedom. I think we should be very aware of maintaining our freedom. And we do that by commemorating that.”
Although the name suggests otherwise, not only women walk along during the march. “Everyone has a mother or grandmother. So men also have the feeling that they want to commemorate someone. Everyone can participate.”
The route is 20 kilometers per day. Although walkers can also opt for a shorter distance. “Unfortunately, registration is no longer possible, we are completely full,” says Van Gosliga. “But next year there is a new chance.”